WARNING

This case is governed by the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 which provides:

87 (8) No person shall publish or make public information that has the effect of identifying a child who is a witness at or a participant in a hearing or the subject of a proceeding, or the child's parent or foster parent or a member of the child's family.

142 (3) A person who contravenes subsection 87(8) or 134(11) (publication of identifying information) or an order prohibiting publication made under clause 87(7)(c) or subsection 87(9), and a director, officer or employee of a corporation who authorizes, permits or concurs in such a contravention by the corporation, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years, or to both.

CAS Niagara v. K.S., 2020 ONSC 4349

COURT FILE NO.: C203/20

DATE: 2020-07-20

SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE – ONTARIO

RE: The Children’s Aid Society of the Niagara Region, Applicant

AND: K.S., Respondent (mother)

AND: K.B., Respondent (father of P.)

AND: J.R., Respondent (father of C.)

BEFORE: Mr Justice Ramsay

COUNSEL: Ciara McCaffrey for the Society; Miranda Belansky for the mother; Anthony Reitboeck for K.B.; Ryan Bonin for J.R.

HEARD: July 20, 2020

ENDORSEMENT

[1] The Society moves to vary the temporary order made by Gregson J. on April 17, 2020 which placed the mother’s two young children into the care of the Society. They now ask that the children be placed into the care of the Respondent K.B., who is the father of the second child, under supervision, with access to both children by the mother and by the father of the older child in the discretion of the Society.

[2] The evidence before me consists of the affidavits of Jordan Bessems sworn April 16, 2020, Victoria Carlson sworn July 9, 2020 and the mother sworn July 16, 2020.

[3] The mother and the Respondent J.R. were partners when the first child, C., a boy, was born on […], 2017. The mother ended the relationship with J.R. in December 2017 and began a relationship with K.B. In January 2018 J.R.’s new partner reported to the Haldimand Norfolk CAS that C. was coming for visits with dirty clothes and mouldy pacifiers and bottles and that he was underfed.

[4] The relationship with K.B. ended for a time in late January 2018, a few months before the birth of K.B.’s child, a daughter, on […], 2018. K.B. continued to exercise access to both children. C. uses K.B.’s surname in combination with the mother’s surname.

[5] In February 2018 J.R.’s partner took C. to the doctor about a bruise on his lower back. C. did not look undernourished.

[6] P. was born on […], 2018. In May she showed signs of failure to thrive. She was admitted to hospital in May 2018. The mother and K.B. were not feeding the baby on time without prompting from the nurses. By June 2018 P. was gaining weight. The mother continued seeing Public Health to monitor P.’s progress.

[7] In July 2018 C. had a bruise under his eye.

[8] In August 2018 the mother moved in with her own mother, who lived with a man who had “a significant history of verified sexual abuse of a child.”

[9] On July 23, 2019 a Society worker visited the mother. C. had a bruise on his forehead.

[10] On July 29, 2019 the mother admitted that she had been staying in D.S.’s home for a week. C. had a mark on his collarbone.

[11] In August 2019 the mother moved into her own home.

[12] In September 2019 during a home visit P. rolled down the stairs because the mother had omitted to secure the baby gate when she came to the door.

[13] By October 2019, D.S. was living in the mother’s home.

[14] On December 9, 2019 J.R.’s partner provided the Society with photos of C. from his last visit on November 29. That day the Society performed a home visit and found no marks on the children.

[15] On March 5, 2020 the Society had to tell the mother to clean up her residence. By March 19 she had done so.

[16] On April 12, 2020 K.B.’s father (P.’s grandfather), reported to the Society that C. had bruises and that he did not want to go home to his mother after a visit. He saw welts on the boy’s buttocks. The Society removed the children to a place of safety that day. Photographs of the children taken by K.B. were shown to the doctor at the Child Advocacy and Assessment Program at McMaster hospital.

[17] On April 14, 2020 the mother blamed C.’s injuries on D.S. and indicated that she had broken up with him. She said that P.’s marks come from falling out of her crib in March. The doctor at CAAP does not believe that the marks were sustained in that way. By April 15, the foster parents reported that new marks had appeared on the children’s buttocks.

[18] The Niagara Regional Police began an investigation.

[19] On April 17, 2020 Gregson J. placed the children with the Society.

[20] The children will soon have to be moved from their present foster home because the foster parents are going back to work. The Society wants to place them with K.B., with access to the mother and J.R.. K.B. lives with his father and mother in a house that could accommodate the children. He has a new partner, who lives separately. J.R. lives in Newfoundland. All three Respondents are in their early twenties.

[21] The children both have issues that need management. They need dental care. They overeat. The boy lacks boundaries. These children’s needs will be a challenge.

[22] The Society has assessed K.B. and considers him suitable to parent both children under supervision. The mother deposes that K.B. and his parents are unsuitable. She claims that she has seen alcoholism and violence in their home. She also says that K.B. was an indifferent parent when they were together. Finally, she says that K.B. sat on her stomach when she was pregnant with P. She told this to a social worker at McMaster hospital in January 2018, but in March 2018 she told the Society worker that K.B. had meant to sit on her legs.

[23] I put little weight on the mother’s evidence. She took a long time to learn the basics of child care. She did not protect her children from physical abuse, and she made an untrue statement about the cause of the marks on P.

[24] Still, I have little information to go on to support the Society’s conclusion about K.B.’s suitability. I do not know what K.B. does for a living or what his plans are with respect to his living arrangements with his new partner. He has not yet filed a plan of care. The conditions sought by the Society make it evident that they feel the need to treat him with caution. The order sought would place C. in a home where everyone is related by blood except for him, which will present another challenge. K.B. has no experience in caring for children full time and he seems still to be dependent on his parents. He was still in the relationship with the mother when she was giving C. mouldy pacifiers. He did not feed P. every three hours in the hospital without prompting from the nurses. I think that the least intrusive order consistent with the best interests of the children is the one that is already in place.

[25] The Society should proceed to evaluate J.R.’s home as soon as possible. He is a viable candidate to take over C.’s care.

[26] There is, however, no reason for J.R. to have access to P. An order will go varying Gregson J.’s order by providing that J.R. will have access only to C. The settlement conference will proceed as scheduled on September 4, 2020.

J.A. Ramsay J.

Date: 2020-07-20